In tropical climates, it is observed that intense heat build-up takes place inside the vehicles which are parked under the sun. The body of the vehicle overheats in scorching summer sun due to ‘green house’ effect. Further, when the vehicles are parked in the open, dry leaves enter into vehicle crevices, rust spots are created on absorbing moisture, and the vehicle body/glass panes is exposed to bird droppings as well as rain, dust, dirt etc. Efforts to cover the vehicle with usual tarpaulin is not very beneficial as it leads to dampness being trapped inside the vehicle in rainy season resulting in rusting of various parts of the body. Further, spreading the tarpaulin cover over the vehicle, on a daily basis, is cumbersome and requires lot of time and effort.
In cold climates, it is observed that during the snowfall, thick layer of snow accumulates over the glass panes of the vehicle which are parked in the open, thereby making it difficult to use the vehicle just after snowfall. The process of manually removing the snow from the vehicle, especially from glass panes is quite difficult and time consuming.
Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 6,206,451 which discloses a vehicle shade for safeguarding the vehicle from general environmental problems i.e. protection from sunshine, dust, dirt, chemicals, bird droppings, etc. The vehicle shade disclosed in the referenced patent tries to cover the top and all sides of the vehicle and provides a folding garage to fulfill this objective. Consequently, the vehicle shade occupies more space, especially if in a parking lot, apart from making the whole process cumbersome and time consuming.
Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,827 which discloses an extendable roof structure which comprises front and rear roof panels and a power actuating mechanism to extend and retract roof panels out of and into a roof enclosure. However, a number of problems/limitations are associated with said vehicle shade. Firstly, the sliding panels of the shade do not fully cover the front, rear, as well as side panes of the vehicle, making them ineffective to protect the vehicle from direct sun rays in tropical climates and from snow in cold climates. Further, the panels projecting side ways apparently protrudes beyond the full width of the vehicle, thereby causing the vehicle to occupy more space in parking lots. The next problem associated with said structure is that the sliding panels of the referenced patent follow rigid geometry of rectangles and are conceived in flat profile, which do not go well with the arcuate profile of most of the motor vehicles. Moreover, the vehicle shade itself is kept exposed to vagaries of weather especially snow, where the ice is likely to penetrate in the box through crevices between the projecting panels and a central container box. There is no mechanism in the vehicle shade which restrict penetration of snow through the crevices between projecting panels and central container box. A major limitation of said shade is that the accumulated snow over the projecting panels of the vehicle shade makes retraction of panels inside the central container box difficult. The sliding panels cannot be retracted back into the central container box till the snow is completely removed from them. Moreover, a vehicle cannot be used for driving till the sliding panels are completely retracted back into box. Therefore, after a snowfall, a person has to either manually remove the snow from the sliding panels or wait till the snow melts away in order to use the vehicle, which is quite cumbersome and time consuming.
Hence, there is a need for a vehicle shade which could be temporarily or permanently attached to the vehicle, be easily and quickly operated by minimal effort, and is most effective to take care of all the problems enumerated above. The vehicle shade must follow the arcuate profile of the vehicle and should fully cover the front, rear, as well as side panes of the vehicle, thereby keeping the vehicle cool in tropical climates, and protecting all glass panes from snow accumulation during winter, apart from safeguarding the glass panes from dust, dirt, bird droppings, rain etc. The vehicle shade must restrict the penetration of snow inside a central box through crevices between projecting panels and the central box. Further, the vehicle shade should facilitate easy removal of accumulated snow from the vehicle and should not require a person to wait for snow to melt away or manually clean the glass panes after a snowfall. Moreover, in an open position, the vehicle shade should not be bigger than the vehicle body so that a vehicle with a vehicle shade can be parked normally'like other vehicles in a parking lot.
In order to meet the above-mentioned requirements, a retractable vehicle shade is invented, to protect most types of the vehicles from normal environmental problems likely to be met in any part of the world.